BUMPER YEAR CREATES NEW JOBS AT CRAWFORD HEALTHCARE

Staff numbers at Crawford Healthcare continue to grow after a record financial year for 2015/16. Expansion has dictated that the Knutsford-based group, which is the UK’s fastest growing advanced wound care business, create 18 new roles in the last 12 months, taking its total number of employees globally to 131.

In fact, having begun building up its North American subsidiary in 2013, Crawford has created more than 80 new jobs in the space of three years, leading to record turnover of £21.5million at the end of its financial year in March.

Crawford Healthcare’s Group HR Director, Alison Whittaker, commented: “One of the most rewarding aspects of our rapid growth in recent years has been welcoming new talent into the business and providing employment opportunities for some of the North West’s brightest minds. Our links to the University of Manchester and the region’s booming life sciences industry has enabled us to cultivate a fantastic mix of experience and innovation, which is having a sustained and consistently positive impact on our bottom line.”

Much of Crawford’s staff growth in 2016 has been at its headquarters in Knutsford, where a further 15 people have joined the business. Appointments have been made in every department but, most significantly, in its operations team with the addition of six new employees. This comes after the company quadrupled its production capabilities to 40 million wound dressings per year, with an extension to its manufacturing facilities in March.

The group’s US subsidiary, headquartered near Philadelphia, now employs 36 and has begun to deliver as anticipated, with multi-million dollar sales and a growth rate close to 100% per annum.

Richard Anderson, Crawford Healthcare CEO, added: “As we look to new territories, we expect further diversification in our locations and people, and we’re looking forward to the Crawford family becoming a truly international affair. That being said, our true home will always be right at the heart of the Cheshire Science Corridor. The strength of our global appeal is in no small part due to the quality of the R&D community in the North West, as well as the exceptional team we’ve brought together to manufacture and market our products, whether it’s here, in the US or the EU. Long may we, and the other businesses that make up this world-leading cluster, continue to prosper and attract other innovators to the region.”